Drones make the news quite often lately, both for the large unmanned versions used to launch stealth attacks in places like Afghanistan, and the much smaller ones used for a variety of non-lethal purposes: photography, tracking cattle in desolate places, or trying to catch drug traffickers. The Federal Aviation Administration recently outlined its proposed new rules in what has been a largely unregulated area, such as keeping drones within sight of the operator, no higher than 500 feet or faster than 100 mph. This is likely going to scotch Amazon’s plans to use drones to deliver packages. I will...
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I noticed in our paper that the Chapel Hill school district is hosting a donkey basketball game this weekend. Teachers will ride on donkeys and attempt to score points against their students. I am a former donkey basketball player but have since hung up my riding sneakers. I was roped into doing this while running the San Augustine paper, despite my lack of qualifications to either play basketball (being vertically challenged) or ride a donkey successfully. The company provided both helmets and the animals, which were much better trained than their riders.
Riding a donkey bareback is hard on one’s...
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Sunshine Week starts Sunday. Newspapers, media organizations and good-government organizations will publish columns, editorials and other material to raise awareness of how we must be vigilant to protect the public’s right to know.
That right is constantly under attack, in Texas and on the federal level. Hillary Clinton’s use of private email while secretary of state has caused a stink, as it should have. Fortunately, the negative publicity compelled the impending release of those emails, which should never have been on a private server. But that is a common practice. Former Gov. Rick Perry,...
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Sam Malone died 15 years ago, a few weeks shy of his 80th birthday, which was on March 2 — Texas Independence Day. That is also Sam Houston’s birthday, and Sam was proud to have been born on that day. He was my first newspaper mentor and a good friend. We rode the roads together for five years to dimly lit football stadiums in towns nestled deep behind the Pine Curtain — Newton, Hemphill and Shelbyville, to name a few.
Sam grew up in the country newspaper business out in Seminole, in West Texas. His dad, Big Sam Malone owned a weekly and taught young Sam how to put type back in the case...
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